LONDON - The British government has officially given the go-ahead to a 3.9 billion pound ($7.6 billion) program to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. The first of the warships is planned to be in service in 2014.

Confirmation for the program to proceed will trigger the creation of a joint venture pulling together the surface warship yards of BAE Systems and the VT Group. The two companies agreed to merge the two BAE yards on the Clyde in Scotland with VT's Portsmouth facility in southern England in mid-2007, but completion of the deal was contingent on the government here confirming that the CVF carrier program would enter the production phase.

The joint venture will be Britain's only major surface warship builder.

The future of the two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers had been in doubt for months as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) sought to balance its books in the face of a potentially significant budget overspend and american F-35B.

VT CEO Paul Lester signaled that the program was about to be approved when he told reporters last week at the company's annual results briefing that the government had informed them approval was imminent. Lester said at the time it would take between four and five weeks to complete the merger deal once the government had informed them it was proceeding with the program.

The two carriers, the largest warships ever built in the United Kingdom, will be constructed in modules and assembled at the Babcock International warship support yard at Rosyth in Scotland.

The first warship will be named HMS Queen Elizabeth, and the second, planned to be in service in 2016, will be called HMS Prince of Wales.

The CVF program is being undertaken by an alliance of British companies comprising BAE, Babcock, Thales, VT and the MoD. The contract will be signed with the merged BAE/VT entity and a subcontract issued to the alliance.

The decision is expected to secure 10,000 jobs in the British maritime industry.

In a statement issued May 20, the MoD said it had "provided written assurances to industry that we are ready to sign contracts as soon as the new shipbuilding joint venture that will be part of the alliance of companies constructing the vessels has been formed."

THE Ministry of Defence yesterday gave the green light for the construction of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, securing thousands of Scottish shipyard jobs.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will be the biggest and most powerful warships ever constructed in the UK. They will enter service in 2014 and 2016. Their construction and assembly in Portsmouth, Barrow-in- Furness, Glasgow and Rosyth will create or sustain 10,000 jobs across the UK, said the MoD.

Contracts will be signed once a new shipbuilding joint venture that is being set up by BAE Systems and VT Group to help build the carriers has been finalised.

Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy First Minister and MSP for Glasgow Govan, said: "This will be welcome news for those working at Govan, Scotstoun and Rosyth."